Should I upgrade from GT 240 to Radeon HD 6950 (on an i7-860)? Or something else?

kghastie · Apr 10, 2016

Yep, it's another of those threads. I built my first PC in 2009 with the intent of future proofing it, with a mid-low-end GPU that I could later upgrade on the cheap. So the time has come, I think, before my rig becomes completely obsolete (feel free to tell me that it already is). And since you guys are the ones who helped me build a rig that has lasted a really long time, I knew this would be the right place to come ask about the next step!

Looking on PassMark, the top card on the Performance/Price value list is the Radeon HD 6950 (1GB) (on sale for $75 currently).

So I am guessing it's tough to beat that bang-for-the-buck factor, especially given I'm not able to spend $200 on a GPU. However, I wanted to know thoughts on what the best option for my rig might be. I'd say I'd be willing to pay about $20-40 per year of extended life on my rig (so I'd consider a $130 upgrade if it would outlast the 6950 for a couple years). At some point in the next 3 or so years, though, I'm guessing my cpu will bottleneck me even for non-gaming, so at that point I'd rather just get something moderate to get me through the next few years (I game rarely, to be honest, but I'd like to see what my rig can do).

Anyway, here are the current specs:

■ Intel i7-860
■ Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 (rev. 1)
■ G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model (F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL)
■ Cooler Master Extreme Power Plus - 500W (RS 500 PCAR A3)
■ Hyper TX3 Heatsink/Cooler (fan bracket version) (RR-910-HTX3-G1)
■ 1x SSD + 2x HDD

Any advice on what I should or should not do would be welcome:

Thanks, TH World!

Epicness937 · Apr 10, 2016

i would get a gtx 960 or a gtx 950 but im not sure about that psu's quality

oobymach · Apr 10, 2016

750ti has similar performance to the 950, both are maxwell cores, both are meant for 1080p gaming. I've owned a 750ti and after overclocking it was a decent card.

kghastie · Apr 11, 2016

Thanks, gents. Cooler master PSU is decent AFAIK. Id possibly be pushing it wIth only 500W but hopefully it'd work .

So no love for the 6950?

jerdle · Apr 11, 2016

The 6950 is a 1GB card, and a pre-GCN architecture card, which means its not being kept in mind with driver updates.

The 750 TI or R7 360 are the low budget ones you should be looking at.

Epicness937 · Apr 11, 2016

kghastie :

for 75$ a 6950 is ok but really a 950 or 960 is a LOT better.
as far as i know a 960 is the fastest gpu on a 500w psu and i know it works i have friends that did it

maxalge · Apr 11, 2016

kghastie :

not that unit, its bad

cooler master doesn't make power supplies, they just put their name on em'

quality is usually pretty sub par, with the V series a notable exception for example because they are made by seasonic

efficiency really takes a dump past 400w on the model you own, pretty crappy build quality too

so you really only want to run a gtx 950 max on it

Asusprime · Apr 11, 2016

based on Passmark scores alone the GTX 750 Ti is faster than the HD 6950. Take into consideration the power efficiency, 2GB vram plus the miniature size and the GTX 750 Ti is the clear winner.

If you are like me and you are willing to go with old cards like the GTX 570 or HD 7870 then look for used cards in ebay. Last month I bought an EVGA GTX 580 for $65 which was in turn replaced by an EVGA GTX 780 Classified that I bought for $200 2 weeks ago.

Biggest issues with the GTX 570 or 580 is their power consumption and amount of Vram but they are decent performers that out do the GTX 750 ti for a similar price. Competent used AMD cards are harder to get since anything before the HD 7000 series suck big time. A good card with comparable performance to the gtx 750 ti is the HD 7850 which was re-branded as the R7 265 and now the R7 370 (with some improvements). I have seen the HD 7870/R9 270 sell for around $100-130 in ebay so if budget allows then go for the fastest used card you can get.

kghastie · Apr 11, 2016

Sounds like the GTX 750 TI is a good bet if I want to keep the price under $100, being a significant upgrade over the Radeon HD 6950, certainly in terms of power consumption.

But I am tempted by the GTX 950 for $35 more, as it sounds like (at least numbers-wise), it's a significant upgrade over the GTX 750 TI (5.2k vs 3.7k). The question I have is, what's the impact of that increased number? Will my rig last longer or be noticeably better (by an amateur like me) over the next few years?

So the specific 950 that drops into my price range is this one. Any forseeable issues running with my current setup? Connector issues or issues with this particular variant that I might not pick up on?
($130) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 950 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDMI DVI DisplayPort Single Fan Graphics Card (ZT-90601-10L)

And here is the 750 TI that I'm considering:
($95) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 750 Ti DirectX 11 ZT-70605-10M 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready Plug-in Card Video Card

SoNic67 · Apr 11, 2016

GTX 950 will probably be the best. Maybe 960 if you can afford it. Those are very low power for the performance they deliver.
Any other card would require PSU upgrade.

kghastie · Apr 11, 2016

So given that 950 > 750, would you guys expect that the 950 will give me a boost I will notice, given that I have an i7-860. In other words:

1) Will my i7-860 CPU bottleneck me before I max out the GTX 750 TI?

2) If not, what are we talking in terms of noticeable difference? I realize that's a highly subjective question, but I have literally zero concept of what the difference between the two cards would be like. I have no subjective basis for understanding the difference between a 5.2k and a 3.7k G3D Mark score is. Any theoretical example someone could give?

I guess I'm asking for a best guess at something like (and these are totally made up): "The 950 should allow you to play new games at average settings/fps for 2-3 years longer than the 750." Or "The 950 probably would only get you like a 5-10% bump in FPS at high quality for a game like Elite Dangerous (over the 750)."

jerdle · Apr 11, 2016

the 950 is like setting the graphics up one notch over a 750 TI.

kghastie · Apr 11, 2016

jerdle :

Yeah, gpuboss validates this, too:

Higher effective memory clock speed 6,612 MHz vs 5,400 MHz More than 20% higher effective memory clock speed
Better 3DMark06 score 8,351 vs 5,378 More than 55% better 3DMark06 score
Higher pixel rate 32.8 GPixel/s vs 16.32 GPixel/s More than 2x higher pixel rate
Higher turbo clock speed 1,188 MHz vs 1,085 MHz Around 10% higher turbo clock speed
More render output processors 32 vs 16 Twice as many render output processors
Better video composition score 71.44 frames/s vs 53.25 frames/s Around 35% better video composition score
Higher BioShock infinite framerate 63.2 fps vs 46.7 fps More than 35% higher BioShock infinite framerate
Higher crysis 3 framerate 29 fps vs 20.4 fps More than 40% higher crysis 3 framerate
Higher memory clock speed 1,653 MHz vs 1,502 MHz More than 10% higher memory clock speed
Better PassMark direct compute score 2,391 vs 1,718 Around 40% better PassMark direct compute score

Epicness937 · Apr 11, 2016

kghastie :

So given that 950 > 750, would you guys expect that the 950 will give me a boost I will notice, given that I have an i7-860. In other words:

1) Will my i7-860 CPU bottleneck me before I max out the GTX 750 TI?

2) If not, what are we talking in terms of noticeable difference? I realize that's a highly subjective question, but I have literally zero concept of what the difference between the two cards would be like. I have no subjective basis for understanding the difference between a 5.2k and a 3.7k G3D Mark score is. Any theoretical example someone could give?

I guess I'm asking for a best guess at something like (and these are totally made up): "The 950 should allow you to play new games at average settings/fps for 2-3 years longer than the 750." Or "The 950 probably would only get you like a 5-10% bump in FPS at high quality for a game like Elite Dangerous (over the 750)."

a i7 860 i dont think would bottleneck a 750 950 or really even maybe a 960 for that

kghastie · Apr 12, 2016

Sprung for the 950. Thanks, everyone!

Epicness937 · Apr 12, 2016

kghastie :

welcome
and what brand of a 950 did you get?

kghastie · Apr 12, 2016

Epicness937 :

This one: ($130) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 950 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDMI DVI DisplayPort Single Fan Graphics Card (ZT-90601-10L)

Any reason to avoid Zotac or that one in particular?

Epicness937 · Apr 13, 2016

kghastie :

Epicness937 :

This one: ($130) ZOTAC GeForce GTX 950 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDMI DVI DisplayPort Single Fan Graphics Card (ZT-90601-10L)

Any reason to avoid Zotac or that one in particular?

what one (at least the link) is a 750 ti is that what you ordered?

kghastie · Apr 13, 2016

Oops, wrong link. I'll fix it.

This one: http://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-DisplayPort-Graphics-ZT-90601-10L/dp/B013P30O54%3Fpsc%3D1%26SubscriptionId%3DAKIAJM4UVF4RQCUWVBQA%26tag%3Dvideocardbenchmark-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB013P30O54

Epicness937 · Apr 13, 2016

looks good it is one of the FEW cards i would recommend a brand that is not asus and/or evga
for a 950 the best brand i would say is zotac or msi but the msi is more expensive
are you going to overclock on this card?

kghastie · Apr 13, 2016

Epicness937 :

Not planning to overclock until my next life

You are saying that most of the time you only like asus/evga, but you like Zotac for the 950, right?

Epicness937 · Apr 13, 2016

kghastie :

yeah mostly because if you are not overclocking it is really just as good as most of the other 2 fanned cards for 20-40$ more

Should I upgrade from GT 240 to Radeon HD 6950 (on an i7-860)? Or something else?

Distinguished

Honorable

Reputable

Distinguished

Admirable

Honorable

Champion

Reputable

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Admirable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Distinguished

Honorable

Share this page